What do “ape rights” mean for human rights?
Via Rob Vischer at Mirror of Justice, and in connection with a previous post, a few more links relating to Spain’s recent decision to “grant limited rights to apes” follow:
What’s Next in the Law? The Unalienable Rights of Chimps
NYT, Adam Cohen, 7.14.08
With the resolution, Spain becomes the world leader in protecting the rights of apes, but perhaps not for long. Austrian animal rights activists are fighting to have a chimp named Matthew Hiasl Pan declared a person. They have lost so far, but are appealing to the European Court of Human Rights.
The Paradox of Discrimination
Slate, William Saletan, 7.15.08
This puts us in an awkward position. We call ourselves egalitarians, yet we deny the equality of conceived humans. We believe that a woman deserves more respect than a fetus. A 26-week fetus deserves more respect than a 12-week fetus. A 12-week fetus deserves more consideration than a zygote. We discriminate according to ability.